Authors Note: Any spelling or grammatical errors in the following log are the fault of the editorial staff, but since we can't afford to pay them, we let it slide.

1/4/05 - Happy New Year:

Well, another Xmas & New Year spent in Florida (this time in a house and not on the water!). It still takes some getting used to. It's odd to celebrate Christmas & New Year without snow and cold weather but it does have it's advantages. It's not too often that I was able to jump in a boat with shorts and a T-shirt and go for a ride in Boston Harbor on New Year's weekend.
Betsy went for a swim with the "Polar Bears" on Sanibel island on New Year's day. Water temps in the mid to high 60's seems to be their idea of cold water I guess.

1/17/05 - Spring Training Tix.

Spent all morning on the computer & phone trying to get spring training tickets. The one bad thing about them winning the World Series is that now everyone wants to see them. It only took a few hours before all the games were sold out. Of course the game against the Yankees went first, so no luck there. But we did score some standing room only tix to the St. Patricks Day game (always a fun time). I also managed to get tix for a couple of other games, so it wasn't a total waste of time.

2/6/05 - A "Super" Sunday!

What a great day this was. First, the weather was right, the boat was clean and rigged, so we finally got KOKOPELLI TOO out of the dock and sailing for the first time since we moved down here. Hard to believe that it's been since last June that it was out on the water. Between the move down, hurricanes, house renovations, etc, etc, it just hasn't happened. But there we were, motoring out of the marina and out under the Sanibel drawbridge toward the Gulf of Mexico. It was a short trip out because we had to get back for the SUPER BOWL!

YEAH BABY!! Super Bowl champs AGAIN! 24-21.

I guess it just took Betsy & I moving out of state for all these championships to start rolling in. I guess if the Celtics and Bruins start winning titles again, that will just prove it.

2/9/05 - Vintage Aircraft.

A couple of restored WWII bombers (a B17-G and a B25) stopped in at Page Field (the local general aviation airport here). For 3 days they were giving tours ($7) and 30 minute rides ($400) to help raise money for charity. I spent the morning touring the two planes, taking pictures and listening to some of the old vets telling stories of their experiences flying on these planes. One of them was a belly turret gunner and he had some hairy stories indeed. After seeing the turret up close, I an't imagine anyone squeezing into it let alone fighting from it. (see pictures).

2/14/05 - Sailing with Friends:

Once again Kokopelli Too was out of the slip and sailing. Our friends from Hull, Bill & Ann Bradford, stopped in for a short visit on their way to vacationing in St. Croix. While they were here, we took Kokopelli out on a gorgeous day. Instead of heading out under the causeway bridge, we motored over to Pine Island Sound and set sail alone Sanibel and Captiva and then returned. A very enjoyable day on the water with good friends.

Picnic Island - one of many nice little spots in Pine Island Sound.

3/19/05 - Airshow!

Betsy & I went to the 25th annual Florida Airshow in Punta Gorda (about 40 mins away). What a show! The aerial acrobatics were amazing. The show by the Blue Angels was awesome as always. Even Betsy said she enjoyed it and she's not an airplane fanatic like me. Please see the pictures inthe photo gallery.

3/25/05 - Play Ball!

It was a beautiful day for baseball at City of Palms park. Unfortunately the Red Sox probably enjoyed the weather more than the game. They got shelled 5-1 and it wasn't even that close. Curt Schilling did make his pitching debut for the year, which was good to see. However, the back-to-back homers he gave up weren't. At least the beers were cold, the hot dogs were hot and he sun was shining. See some pictures from spring training in the photo gallery.

4/18/05 - Keys Weekend

Just back from a weekend in the Keys (Islamorada). A short drive across Alligator Alley and then down Hwy 1 through the upper Keys to Islamorada, "The Sportfishing Capital of the World". You can tell when you've arrived in teh Florida Keys because the color of the water down there is like no other place (except maybe the Bahamas), brilliant shades of blue and green that have to be seen to be believed.

Since this was a "land" vacation and not a "boat" vacation, we just had to do the normal tourist things. And since we were in Islamorada, this had to include a trip to "Robbies" to feed the Tarpon. There is nowhere else that I can think of where you can have this much fun for $3 ($1 admission and $2 for a bucket of fish). If the picture below only had sound, you would hear Betsy's scream as a big, five foot Tarpon comes lunging out of the water and snaps the fish out of your hand:

5/8/05 - A Beautiful Day on the Water!

It was a beautiful, day for a sail. Betsy, Suzi, Boomer & I took KokopelliToo out for a sail out under the Sanibel Bridge and down to the edge of the Gulf in a light breeze. The sun was out, the dolphins played nearby and the beer was cold. Then the wind went away so we motored over and dropped anchor alongside Tuggy Bear (a Nordic Tug 32 owned by our friends Richard & Barbara Galvin) off the Sanibel Lighthouse. There was a strong current running as we swam over to join our friends on T.B. so we took along a rope to help us get back. After a while we noticed that Tuggy Bear was drifting on their anchor! Betsy & Suzi swam back to Kokopelli while our rope was still long enough. Richard eventually decided to haul anchor and raft off the sailboat. We went our seperate ways about 6pm and headed back to port.

5/11/05 - New gear.

God it's hot down here! Spent all day putting new gear on the boat for our cruising spinnaker that our NZ friend Waldo is making us! Put a new cabintop winch on the port side, a new rope clutch and a deck organizer for the new halyard. Had to remove parts of the headliner below to get at the new holes I drilled (I hate doing that!). I looked forward to getting down below to work so I could get out of the damn furnace and glare outside! Much water was consumed this day!.

5/22/05 - Haulout Time!

Brought Kokopelli Too over to Olsen Marine in Fort Myers Beach so she can get hauled out and have her bottom painted. It's been just over 2 years since her last paint job and many miles have been put on her since then. I hope they treat her well. I hate this part. I never feel good until it's back safely in the water.

6/18/05 - Call us "Captain":

Betsy & I have passed our 6-pack captains course! On a whim, we both decided to take the 9-day SeaSchool course in Cape Coral and see how we would do on the test. Luckily we both passed on the first try (some guys were doing multiple attempts - the "rules" section is a bear to pass). Now it's a matter of getting the mountain of paperwork done to get the licenses.

7/9/05 - Hurricane Time!

Hurricane Dennis looks like it will miss us. It's hammering the Keys after pounding Cuba but looks to be heading up to the panhandle area. Might get some winds and rain here.

8/18/05 - New Chute!

Finally got Kokopelli out of the slip and out on the water again. It was really hot today but there was a nice breeze once we got to the Gulf. The best part was that we fianlly got to try out our new cruising spinnaker (courtesy of our good friend Waldo at Calibre Sails, NZ). We were able to put it up for a short run before the T-Storms came calling.

8/25/05 - Another storm:

Hurricane Katrina (2nd one this year with us in the cone) was on a direct path for us after crossing the state but then it decided to take a left turn and head south of us and out to the Gulf (Thank you!). Just getting some wind gusts and rain. Nothing near the tropical storm level we were expecting. Looks like the Keys are getting hit hard again.

9/4/05 - (non) Labor Day:

Our friend Vinnie visited from Key West this weekend. Took him to our favorite watering hole (Bonita Bils). Sat. we had a great day sailing out on the Gulf. Got to put the new spinnaker through it's paces this time (even a gybe or two).

9/19/05 - Chase Race: (Lenny! are you reading this?)

Just got back from a quick trip north to participate in the Great Chase Race at Hull YC and see all of our old friends (Betsy raced and I did race committee and pictures). Hurricane Ophelia was nice to us and veered away from the coast far enough to allow the race to go off as scheduled (unlike Ivan last year). Over 90 boats signed up and 76 raced this year. Not bad considering the forecast. Check out the pictures HERE.

9/20/05 - Rita:

Hurricane Rita is moving in on the Keys. Talked to Vinnie yesterday and he was evacuating north to Miami / Ft. Lauderdale. Once again we had to prep Kokopelli for TS winds. Right now it doesn't look bad for this area. Still 2 months to go in the season - yipee!

10/16/05 - Las Vegas:

Betsy & I just got back from 5 days in Las Vegas. It's changed quite a bit since I'd been there last (20+ years). Did a lot of walking along the strip looking at the sights, checking out the casinos and seeing some shows. We also took a day trip to Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon (including an amazing helicopter ride over the West Rim!). Photos can be viewed from the Photo Gallery.

10/18/05 - Wilma:

Storm #21 of the season looks like it's heading our way. A bit early to know for certain so we are keeping our fingers crossed!

10/27/05 - WILMA!!

Another close call! Wilma packed a wallop but luckily passed south of us and sparing us the worst of the wind. The eye of the storm made landfall at 6am near Marco Island. by 10am we were getting the backside wind as it passed across the state - these were actually the worst winds for us. Luckily we didn't sustain any major damage, just some aluminum soffet on one side of the house and some torn screens around the pool. Our next dorr neighbor was not as lucky (see below):

11/13/05 - Sandcastles:

It's that time again. Another amazing display of talent at teh 19th annual sandcastle competition on Fort Myers Beach. See the entries in the Photo Gallery.

11/19/05 - Never Ending Season!

They say that hurricane season doesn't end until December and it sure looks like mother nature is going to take it down to the wire! Tropical storm Gamma is on a track similar to Wilma's. Sofar, the track is moving farther south over Cuba but it is still uncertain as to were this tropical storm will actually go.

12/9/05 - Made it through another one!

Well, according to the National Weather Service at least, the 2005 Hurricane Season is now officially over! Even though tropical storm Epsilon is still churning up the mid Atlantic. Looks like we escaped without any major problems again. Now we get to enjoy the weather until next June. Happy Holidays!